George Okafor is the chief executive officer of Dr Food Enterprises Nigeria Limited. He hails from Delta State and has a degree in Computer Science. His firm, Dr. Food Enterprises, is a company that deals with manufacturing/production of healthy meals. He started the business in August 2018.
He began with the release of Vip Garri, which comes in different flavours such as strawberry and banana.
“The health deficiency in garri production makes it totally unhealthy for patients with diabetes and eye problems, among others,” he says.
“So, we came up with the concept of VIP Garri, rich in coconut milk to help minimise heart risk and other deficiencies,” he says.
He explains that his brand is rich in potassium, vitamin, calcium and honey for healthy eye, with standardised sugar level, which makes it suitable for all.
He adds that its benefits vary with flavours.
George started the company with less than N10, 000, which he raised himself, in 2018.
Today, he gets his raw materials from his farm and from some suppliers.
“We get our raw materials from our farm since it has to do with farm produce. Then we get the rest of the materials from our trusted supplier at Onitsha and Lagos, most especially, in order to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in production,” he says.
“Doing things like ordinary people makes you ordinary. You could do something popular in a community yet people may not appreciate it because you are doing something common. But if you do it in a unique way, that makes it different from the rest.”
“It begins with the mind-set. I was at the church (World Insight Christian Centre) some time ago and Pastor David was teaching about ‘packaging’. That really struck me and ministered to me that there were thousands of companies in the industry with different names but none was looking universal even though they .are
“And we know that whenever anybody hears about the word ‘doctor’, they think about medical doctors. So I thought of the name Dr Food, which depicts our professionalism in the industry of food and beverages.”
“So with this, if anybody needs to see a doctor for food and beverages, they can talk to us.”
When asked about his challenges, the young entrepreneur says, “We need finance and that has been the major issue. You will agree with me that strategies most times without finance can be so frustrating. This has rendered many youths lifeless.”
He explains that there are thousands of youths scattered all over Nigeria with quality ideas that are now dead.
He says his firm needs support to make its mark in the market and employ a large number of young people.
“Just imagine what giving life to those ideas would look like. Nigerians will no longer cry for good food. This, I can assure, should happen if the government comes into this.”
On his long term goals, he says, “For ensuring that nobody is left out on our products, we will penetrate through the major markets in different cities and states. It will also be available in supermarkets. Every Saturday, we will be feasting with our potential buyers and also we will be given 50 percent discount to our products, which makes it access with just N100. There will also be a show-off every last Saturday in potential cities of which prizes will be given.”
Currently, he has just employed 18 people within the last couple of months and still counting and he is willing to engage more people.
Advising other entrepreneurs and youths, he says “My biggest advice to all youths is to never think within the limitations of your ability, rather learn to think outside the box. It might start small but it will never end small. Stand up and leave your comfort zone and get something working.”
Jonathan Aderoju
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
